Learning is not easy, but hard; culture is severe. The steps to Parnassus are steep and terribly arduous.

Inspired teachers ... cannot be ordered by the gross from the factory. They must be discovered one by one, and brought home from the woods and swamps like orchids. They must be placed in a conservatory, not in a carpenter shop; and they must be honored and trusted.

A vision of truth which does not call upon us to get out of our armchair - why, this is the desideratum of mankind.

The power of quotation is as dreadful a weapon as any which the human intellect can forge.

It is just as impossible to help reform by conciliating prejudice as it is by buying votes. Prejudice is the enemy. Whoever is not for you is against you.

Nothing is more injurious to the character and to the intellect than the suppression of a generous emotion.

Benevolence alone will not make a teacher, nor will learning alone do it. The gift of teaching is a peculiar talent, and implies a need and a craving in the teacher himself.